§ Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the implementation of paragraph 101 of the White Paper "Policy for Roads: England 1980"—Cmnd. 7908—relating to the need to consider likely maintenance requirements in the design and construction of new roads; and if he will give examples of schemes where this policy has been applied.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIt is now our standard practice to take account of future maintenance needs in the design of new roads. In most cases, the basic design of a new road will not be affected by taking account of future maintenance. It can, however, tip the balance in favour of a higher standard in some cases. The recent statement on 45W detailed proposals for the M40 Oxford-Birmingham route explains how future maintenance requirements on both M40 and M1 were taken into account in determining the standards. It has also influenced a number of other decisions, including that to widen the Warndon-Catshill section of M5 rather than simply repairing the existing carriageways.